‘Boy Erased’ Kicks Off Focus Features’ Big Winter at Indie Box Office
“Boy Erased” has kicked off what could be a watershed awards season for Focus Features, earning $220,000 from its five-theater release for a per screen average of $44,000.
Written and directed by Joel Edgerton, “Boy Erased” stars Joel Edgerton as the son of a Baptist pastor (Russell Crowe) who is forced to question his identity after his parents discover that he is gay. He has two choices: go to conversion therapy or be exiled from his family. Nicole Kidman also stars in the film, which has an 84 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Also Read: 'Boy Erased' Film Review: Gay Conversion Drama Has Powerful Moments But Also Rote Ones
Focus Features has already left its mark on this year’s box office with “BlacKkKlansman,” which made $87 million worldwide and is expected to be an Oscar contender come January. Focus will put two more potential awards contenders in theaters next month with Mimi Leder’s Ruth Bader Ginsburg biopic “On the Basis of Sex” and Josie Rourke’s period piece “Mary Queen of Scots.”
Also earning a solid release is Aviron Pictures’ “A Private War,” which stars Rosamund Pike as real-life war correspondent Marie Colvin and follows her struggle to expose the violence and atrocities in war zones while grappling with the trauma of her experience abroad. Released on four screens, the film has earned $72,000 for a per screen average of $18,000. Matthew Heineman directed the film from a script by Arash Amel, and it has an 89 percent Rotten Tomatoes score.
On the documentary side, Sony Pictures Classics released the documentary “Maria by Callas,” which earned a robust four-screen opening of $50,891 and a $12,723 average per screen average. NEON, meanwhile, released the YouTube Originals film “Bodied” on 14 screens, earning just over $50,000 and a $3,609 average. “Bodied” has been released on multiple platforms this weekend, including YouTube Red.
Among holdovers, Amazon’s polarizing “Suspiria” expanded to 311 theaters this weekend and earned $964,722 for an average of $3,102. It now has a 10-day total of $1.2 million. Fox Searchlight’s “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” expanded to 180 screens and is expected to add $1 million for a total of $1.8 million. Searchlight also saw “The Old Man & The Gun” add $1 million in its sixth weekend for a $9.1 million total.
A24’s “Mid 90s” added $1.3 million in its third weekend for a total of $5.8 million, while Amazon’s “Beautiful Boy” added $1.4 million in its fourth weekend for a $3.2 million total. Finally, National Geographic’s “Free Solo” added $1 million in its sixth weekend for a total of $6.8 million.
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